


See Right Through (Me)

by MarisFerasi



Category: Preacher (Comics), Preacher (TV)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Arguments, Bathroom Sex, Bets & Wagers, Contests, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Self-Hatred, Stranger Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-28
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-06-17 15:26:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15464421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarisFerasi/pseuds/MarisFerasi
Summary: Five times Cassidy is a shameless, fornicating flirt, and the one time Jesse finally reacts.Just some drabbly Cass/OC smut and jessidy/ot3 fluff that ends in Jessidy/OT3 smut, tbh.It got too long because I'm me, dammit, so it will be multi-chapter.





	1. Chapter 1

Jesse, Tulip and Cassidy split into their motel rooms for the night, saying their goodbyes and _see ya later's_ with old keys sliding into stiff locks. 

Tulip's diffusing in the shower and Jesse is flipping through fuzzy TV channels about half an hour later when the wall vibrates with the thud of Cassidy's door slamming shut. The preacher hops off the bed and peeks through the curtains, seeing his friend's back as he crosses the parking lot and slides into what must be an Uber. 

Jesse skitters to the bathroom door and snatches up Tulip's keys from the top of her handbag, sitting on the sink just outside. 

"I'm goin out with Cass, see ya in a few hours?" He yells through the door. Jesse waits all of half a second for a response and runs out, tires squealing as he catches up to the Civic that's headed into town. 

And Jesse's thankful for the chance to get out and find some mischief, if he's being honest with himself. He's entirely too energized for a lazy evening in the room, but he'd relented easily enough when Tulip said she was too damn tired to deal with either of them for another second and pulled off the road for the night. 

Hell, she almost made him stay with Cassidy. And maybe he should have. 

Jesse pulls into a packed parking lot behind the Civic and parks the Chevelle, watching Cassidy slip through a crowd around the door easily enough, all big easy smiles and as charming as you like. The preacher crunches across the gravel and follows Cass into the nightclub, and finds him several minutes later near the bar, already chatting up a couple of girls with a (likely stolen) drink in hand. Jesse orders two beers and waits for the girls to drift back to their (obviously waiting) bachelorette party group and then approaches the vampire. 

"Needing a wingman?" Jesse asks with a grin, tapping the neck of one bottle against Cass' arm. He turns with a surprised smile and takes the beer happily. 

"Nah, 's easy as it can be, hookin' someone for a night. Sorta playin' with me food, righ' now. No pun intended," he leans in and says over the music. Jesse laughs and looks around, noticing the type of crowd in here and how different it is from his usual drinking scene.

There are a _lot_ of girls in here, and a lot of young, pretty men that he suspects are not entirely straight. And of course a handful of very obviously straight men, prowling after the girls in the lay-by areas. _Very typical college-town club scene_ , he thinks.  _Exactly the sort of place a fella goes to get laid real easy._

"Wha' brings yeh out, Padre? 'Spected yez two teh be fuckin' away by now," Cassidy shouts, leaning back on his elbows, looking every bit the part of a careless tease. Jesse licks his lips and shakes his head. 

"She's tired and I'm not, when I heard ya leave I figured I'd like ta get into some trouble with ya," Jesse quirks a grin and teases. 

"Ah. Well, not ter bust yer bubble mate, but I was' exat'ly planning on being 'ere long at all. Jus' come ta pull somebody ter the loo 'er o'er tell the motel, easy-like." 

"Damn I mean surely you're gonna be here like hour 'r so, gotta put the work in, right?" Jesse says, baffled. Who the hell just nabs someone that quick? He's never seen Cassidy pull someone that fast; hell, he can't even remember the last time he saw Cass without a _hooker,_ honestly. 

"Oh please, I could 'ave someone an' be comin' in that toilet in ten minutes if I _tried_ , Padre. Af'er a hunnerd years, there's nothin' teh gettin' laid if yer actually putting yer mind to it," Cassidy smirks, surveying his prey. 

"Alright, yore on. What's the bet? Cuz I wanna see those skills, sounds like bullshit to me." Jesse finishes his beer and unwraps one finger from around the glass neck to point at Cassidy. 

"Hmm. _Anybody_ in here?" Cass levels Jesse with a particularly unsettling look and Jesse clears his throat, taken aback at the sudden heat therein. 

"Anybody who's willing, yeah," he clarifies, earning an eye-roll. 

"Well Jaysis, Jesse, glad yeh _cleared that up_. Y'fucker. Fine. Anybody in here I can pull, I'll have 'em coming in those toilets. Maybe the alley. Ten minutes from first contact. What's me reward?" He asks, all cheshire grin, sharp teeth glinting back at Jesse in the flash of neon.

"You mean besides the orgasm?" Jesse laughs, squirming on his bar stool and still a little hot under the collar.

Cassidy rolls his eyes and waces a hand alongside his shaking head. "No, no, no, Padre. A reward from _you_ , fer _me_ winning the bet."  

When he doesn't get a response (Jesse's floundering on an answer) he continues. "A'right... Here it is. I win, we get _one_ hotel room with _one_ bed next stop an' I sleep in th'middle. I wan'a proper cuddle, an' I'm gonna get it!" He waits until Jesse laughs and then smiles back. 

"Ha, _that's_ what you want? Okay. Fine. But if I win, if you don't succeed tonight, you sleep in the fucking car and save us the motel money." Cassidy nods thoughtfully. 

"So either way yer saving money an' I'm gettin' laid and/or a cuddle." Cassidy sucks his teeth and nods thoughtfully. "Smart bet. But I won't sleep in the car, jus' bein honest. I'll probably fuck off n' find someone who _does_ wan' me company fer the night, y'wanker." Jesse grins again and nods with a laugh. They shake hands on it, chuckling at the absurdity.

"Alright, settled. Ten minutes from contact to orgasm. Ready?" Jesse asks. Cassidy licks his lips, casts a predatory glance around his person, and nods. "Go." Jesse watches as Cassidy hooks two shots off a passing waitress' tray and downs them and turns around, wrapping lissome fingers around the wrist of the ( _very_ handsome) bar-back standing just a couple feet away, behind the counter. 

"Pardon me, luv, I imagine yer dyin' fer a smoke? D'yeh wanna come hard down me t'roat real quick in th'alley there?" He asks the man, tossing his head suggestively towards the side door.

Both Jesse and the barman's jaws drop and they glance at one another and then back at Cassidy in unison. "Oh, he's jus' me roommate, no worries," Cassidy flashes his teeth at the guy and the dude simply _melts_.

It's unreal! Jesse's flabbergasted at the face Cassidy's making right now; he's never seen the vampire's face look so open, so soft and inviting, full of _want_. His smile is devilish but his eyes have just enough glint to say 'I'm gonna wreck you, but you're _never_ gonna regret it.' It punches the preacher (and apparently the barman) right in the solar plexus, sending them off-axis. 

But Jesse can't help but grin too, open-mouthed and in complete shock when the barman clears his throat and nods and tells his partner to mind the bar for a minute while he grabs a smoke, taking his apron off. Cassidy winks at Jesse and follows the handsome barman to a door in the corner and outside.  

"So uhm, how do you want to do this?" The lean-but-beefy barman (Xander, Cassidy has learned from a glinting name tag) asks. Cass lights a cigarette and glances down at his phone. Eight minutes left. 

"You prefer standin' er sittin', lil bear?" He asks, backing the man up gently. There's an upturned crate nearby and Xander plunks down onto it on his ass. 

"Sitting I guess," he says, and Cass sinks to his knees, offering up the last of the cigarette while he exhales and starts undoing Xander's belt and flies. 

"Now. I don'ave a gag reflex an' I can 'old me breath a _long_ time, Xander. I 'spect you teh make good use o'those skills. Yeh got five minutes, lil bear." Cassidy smiles when Xander coughs out a plume of smoke in shock and then stands, kicking the crate to the side. "Yeah, standin' better fer me, too." He plunges one of his own hands down the front of his opened jeans, tugging at the wakening length there. "If yer impressed, maybe I'll get an invite fer _my turn_ when yer shif' ends?" Cass drops open his mouth and hangs his tongue out, still grinning while Xander nods breathlessly and starts feeding him his perfectly- average- sized cock.  

Jesse's sitting at the bartop feeling like a moron, now. There's no way to know what's going on out there without _going_ , and he does _not_ want to see... that.... He growls under his breath at the hot stab of jealousy that just leaves him confused as it lances through his belly. 

He's _with Tulip_. Cassidy can fuck whoever the hell he wants.

Right?

Right.

So then why does it feel like it did when he found out the two of them fucked? Or how it felt when he learned about Viktor? He doesn't even know what to do with this feeling, other than let it sit on his lungs and ache until he can drown it out with distraction or booze.

Jesse's murky thoughts are interrupted barely six minutes later by the handsome barman coming back through the door, his cheeks pink and eyes wide. He's tugging at his shirt front and grasping for his apron almost before he's behind the bar again. 

Cassidy follows him inside, plucking at his own jeans in front and grinning saucily as he flicks a cigarette butt out into the alley and shuts the door. 

He sits gingerly on the stool across from Jesse and winks. "Eight minutes, by my count. Maybe a new record, shite." Jesse rolls his eyes and has to agree. "How'd we call Guinness on _that one_?" He smiles warmly at Jesse's laugh, then.

"You knew he was hot for it, beforehand" Jesse accuses, falling into their usual, comfortable language of banter.

Call and response.

Cassidy grins, quick and feral-like. He still wants to come _inside_ someone, even more so now. The kid had stumbled back inside almost before he'd pulled out of Cassidy's mouth, shy and embarrassed at how quick it was over. 

Never stood a chance, really. Cass has had a _long_ time to perfect his skill set, and hedonism's just part of the game, baby. 

He's probably not getting that invite. 

"Aye, Padre. Yeh can _smell_ it on 'em," at Jesse's furrowed brow he clarifies. "The arousal. Blood pumpin' south, like. Can be damn useful fer somethin' like me, mate." 

"Some _one_ ," Jesse corrects, asking for two more beers. Cassidy smiles to himself, soft like before, but keeps his eyes on the pulsating crowd. 

That's why Jesse's his best mate. 

 _That_ _right there_. 

In the end, he does get tapped on the shoulder and invited over to Xander's, but Cass makes the case for his simple motel room just a mile or two away, and they slide into the barman's car quick as lightening when the kid punches out around 2am.

Jesse drives the Chevelle back to Tulip and their motel room, and tries to ignore Cass pressing the young, beefy blonde kid up against the door frame while he fumbles for the key, their mouths and torsos pressed together and rutting already.

The door slams shut behind them, a pair of shoulders--and who's to say _whose_ \-- hits the wood right after with a dead echo, followed by quite the thunderous fuck. 

Jesse takes a second to thank whoever that they didn't put down a credit card for damages. One good thing these seedy no-tell motels are good for is not asking questions. 

Tulip's eyes widen a couple times at a particularly loud sound, but other than that she drifts in and out of sleep, and when they wake up the next morning, all stumbling together toward the Chevelle, she has to suppress a laugh at the filthy-jealous look Jesse levels at the barman's retreating back as he limps lightly toward his car, head down in a traditional walk of shame. 

"Next time, don't let him pick up someone else," she says over the roof of the car, sliding into her seat and throwing Cassidy (already in back and nearly asleep again under a blanket) a conspiratorial wink. 

"No worries luv, I already secured us one big bed fer nex' time," he yawns back as Jesse situates himself up front. 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Situation #2  
> Driving and banter.  
> That big king-sized bed & cuddles  
> This is 99% fluff

"I swear ta God, er--ya know, whoever we're swearin' ter now... Fuckin' aliens _exist_ , man, and _they've been here_. They 'AVE!" Cassidy yells from the backseat over Tulip's scoff. He's got a joint halfway rolled, the other half starting to fray apart with his gesticulations, getting worked up over conspiracy theories again. 

At least it's not the fucking _lizard folk_ again. 

"How else d'ya explain t'ing like carvings of astronauts with bloody oxygen tanks on the walls of Aztec ruins, r--r the bastard pyramids?! They line up _perfectly_ wi'the stars on Orion's Belt, man. They point straight fer Sirius, the brightest star, which by the way, is lined up perfe'ly from the pyramids teh other city, the..the.....whatever it was." Cass flaps a hand at the two of them and starts studiously looking for lost dust on his lap.

"So that's supposed to mean somethin'?" Jesse asks, teasing. He shoots a quick smile at Tulip when Cass growls quietly at the mess he's made in his excitement. 

"Look. It's a map, a'right? The Egyptians, the Vedics--bloody Indians, yeah? All say t'same t'ing. Weird lil wankers in flying machines come down, have a battle in th'sky, 'r sometimes jus' leave behind these clues and _maps_ and infermation, an'disappear." He finally (hopefully) finished picking stray microscopic bits of pot out of Tulip's car's seat cushion's upholstery threads and twists the end of the spliff with a satisfactory smirk. 

Barely any lost. 

The car's quiet for a while, the radio burbling in the background while the boys share the joint. Suddenly the air is thick with energy again and Cassidy shoots forward and nearly shouts:

"Tha's why Trump wants this fucking Star Wars bullshit military service! Fuck all, mate, tha's _it_! He knows, _bloody well KNOWS_ there's aliens! The President's secret book! Aw, shite," he mumbles, falling back against the seat when Jesse dissolves into hysterics. 

Can't tell a good Ol' boy from Texas nothin'.  

As predictable as ever, Tulip gets tired of their arguing quickly and pulls off the next available exit and into a gas station, eager for the ladies room and a snack. Jesse gets out to stretch and pump, handing Cassidy some bills to fetch some goodies inside. "Coke sounds good, s'hot today. And a bag'a M&Ms. We got smokes or did you take 'em all?" He accuses with a raised brow and crooked grin. Cass watches over the tops of his sunglasses as Jesse pats down his own pockets and come up empty before he grimaces and hands over a squashed packet.

"Eh, I wouldn't say I took em _all_ , Padre, but we're runnin' low." Jesse nods and waves Cass off, and can't help a small smile to himself when he watches the lanky bastard prowl the shop through the glass wall. 

"Kinda cute, inn'he?" Tulip teases, leaning on her car door and watching Jesse watch Cassidy. It's become almost painful, the desire to snigger at the faces he makes, now that she's paying attention. Jesse wouldn't know what a crush was if it was wearing a shirt labeled "totally fuckable" and slapped him clean across the face. Which, by the way, Cassidy may as well try at this point. "Don' worry, mama says we can keep him!" she says real innocent-like, eyes big and excited.

Jesse jumps out of his skin and makes a moue at her. "Don't know what yore talking about," he mutters screwing the gas cap back on with a little too much conviction. 

"Uh huh. So we're sharin' that big bed tonight, right? Cuz, uh, you're gonna have to figure _that_ out beforehand," she tilts her eyebrows up and eyes down at his crotch with a smirk. Jesse growls a little and plucks at his tight jeans, sliding into the back seat of the car. Tulip rolls her eyes with a fond grin and climbs into the driver's side after a languid stretch. She turns around in the seat and looks over her glasses at the preacher. 

"Sooner or later, Jesse, that thing inside'a you's gonna shake something loose.  And you better be glad you got two people who'll be happy to be here when it does. Cuz most people only got themselves. And you got _two_ , understand?" Jesse glares back at her until the door to the shop jangles and Cass walks out, grabbing both their attention when he bends and eyes the new seating arrangement. 

"It's getting dark, you can get in front and be fine," Jesse snaps. Cass raises his brows at Tulip and she shrugs a shoulder, throwing both hands up in defeat. 

 _I tried, he's an ass_ , is what the look says, and Cassidy snorts, climbing into the front seat with his haul of goodies. 

Tulip aims the car for Dallas, and punches the gas.

* * *

 

"Dani said she'll meet us for breakfast at the diner on MLK 'round 9:30," Tulip calls from the bathroom. "Says she's got a couple small things lined up for us, get back into the game a little. Easy money." Cassidy's in the shower, but he ain't shy so she's spreading out her "lady things" (as the boys call them) while he hums to himself and warms his cool skin up under the piping hot spray.

 _Taking over counter space must be inherent in the X chromosome, s_ he mutters to herself and thunks down a box of tampons. Jesse told her that once and had gotten beaned in the temple with a travel-sized tube of toothpaste for his trouble. 

"Don't stick you're head out here, Cass, I have ta pee," she says and sits. Part of her wonders mid- process if he can smell her period coming on, and what exactly that does for him.

Anything?

Nothing? 

A large amount of water hits the plastic floor with a slap, making her jump. A long, ink-swirled arm stretches out and pushes the door shut, and Tulip can't help but laugh that he's actually managed to keep his head inside the curtain for that. 

"You uh... Got somethin' else goin' on down there, luv?" He asks, aiming for _something_ but it just comes out hopeful. "Y'know, I've been told I'm pretty helpful wi'that 'time o'the month, before." Tulip rolls her eyes at his tone, full of strained swagger, and scoffs. 

"Yeah, actually. And you ain't getting a taste- if that's what you _want_ \- til Jesse's on board an' you know it," she fires back, finishing and flushing so that he yelps in the flood of cold water. 

"Cor, come on," Cass growls playfully. Tulip can just make out the soapy-squish of a handful of lather gliding repetitively over something and laughs again. 

"Are you jerkin' off?" She asks just loud enough for him to hear over the water. 

"Eh, whaddya 'spect o' me, luv? I get ter cuddle wi'yeh all night, gotta put the beast ter bed first. Don' wanna enrage yer boyfriend," Cassidy pokes his head out at the end and waggles his eyebrows suggestively. "Otherwise I'd be sendin' yeh in ter rile 'im up, see, so we can take 'im fer some new experiences, ha." 

Tulip giggles in agreement and goes out to the room, where Jesse's in his tank, jeans and socks on the bed, laying there staring at the TV like a toy soldier. She cocks a hip and crosses her arms. 

"Are you gonna stay that way all night? Cuz I'm pretty sure the bet you lost said 'cuddle,' and you look like a shit- covered plank of wood." Tulip teases, undressing to a tank and boyshorts before easing herself onto the far side of the bed from Jesse, leaving a wide gap between them for a certain skinny idiot to slide in. 

Jesse rolls to his side and tugs her closer anyway. "You wanna be with him," he says, not a question. Tulip roves her eyes over Jesse's face and chest, taking in the body language, and sticks her chin out. 

"I want him to be with _us_. We're just waitin' on _you_ , Jesse." 

"Nah, he ain't gonna like all that. He wants _you_ , I'd just be a convenient bonus, at best." Jesse rolls to his back and kicks off his jeans and socks, getting comfortable and ignoring Tulip's huff of indignation. 

Maybe if he plays it right he can fall asleep before--

The bathroom door yanks open and Cassidy comes out in a plume of steam and a pair of what appears to be Tulip's tiny-flowered night-shorts ( _that's where they fuckin went!_ ), all bath-warm and loose-limbed from his little shower-wank. 

"Right, children, lemme in here," Cass nearly shouts, all teeth and cheeky grins as he crawls up the bed and slips under the duvet. The little motel didn't have king bed option, just two queens or a queen and a roll-out sofa, so they're all smashed in one bed like sardines again, like that night at Mike's. Except now the energy's changed; now they all _want_ to be there, even if they're to thick to admit it (ahem- _preacher_ ). 

Cass quickly considers his spooning options and decides that while it's more of a risk, Jesse's already turned away from them and is the least likely to spoon _him_. So with a quick peck to Tulip's forehead that makes her smile sleepily, Cassidy turns and butts up behind Jesse, knocking his knees right up behind the preacher's, and mashes their torsos together with a long arm wrapped around Jesse's ribs. 

Jesse tenses at the idea of being the little spoon; he locks right up for a full minute until Cassidy gets them situated one-handedly. He feels Tulip's little hand slide up his hip to cup over his ribs just under Cass' elbow. 

"D'yeh need a kiss too, Jess?" Cassidy breathes against the back of his neck. Jesse bites his lips against a knee-jerk reaction and sighs into his pillow. He can feel the two of them grinning conspiratorially behind his shoulders. 

When he doesn't exactly answer, Cassidy presses a chaste, thankful peck to the ridge of a shoulder blade and settles, and before Jesse knows it, everyone's breathing has petered out to an even, deep pattern. 

It takes a while, but he eventually admits to himself that he's _very_ comfortable, even starts to nod off, just as Cass rolls to his back with a groggy snort. Jesse waits a couple minutes for the two of them to re-settle into sleep and rolls carefully, surveying the new territory. 

The vampire is on his back with one elbow up, arm bent under Jesse's pillow, the other curled around Tulip's front, hand clasped over the rise of her hip. She's rolled to press her back up against his side and is hugging both his arm and her pillow like another body against her front.

It's very open, a definite invitation, and one that Jesse decides to take. 

He scooches forward mere inches until he's just touching Cass' side and lays one hand on the vampire's sternum, the other curled over his own ribs, a (weak) divider between their torsos. 

Eventually, he falls asleep to the rise and fall of their bodies in the calm, dark peace of the room. 

* * *

 

A few hours later (it's still dark out, just starting to turn greyish-blue around the heavy window treatments) Tulip blinks awake to a feather-light sensation on the skin over the rise of her hip, tapering up her waist. Cassidy's awake, has been for god knows how long, thinking quietly. Still pressed in between them and skin-warmed. She turns her shoulders just enough to look up and over at him in the dark.

Jesse's come around in his sleep and is spooned up tight behind Cass, one arm still curled against his own chest, futilely separating them just a smidge, but the other trailing over and up Cassidy's torso to grip at his opposite shoulder. She can feel it against her own spine. 

"You ok?" She breathes, not wanting to disturb Jesse and make him move. Cass flashes her back one of his too-big grins, teeth glinting briefly in the low light, and the barest of nods. "You want him," she says into the air, turning as slowly and carefully as she can until they're chest-to-chest, breathing each other's air. Jesse's still puffing against Cass' nape, deep asleep,and they wanna keep it that way for the moment. 

"I wan' both of yeh, but yeah.... Fuck, I do. Bloody well lost on the both of yez. An' I can'ave one wi'out the other, so until he figures it out," Cass shrugs one shoulder carefully and dips his chin enough to press his mouth to her forehead. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dani gives the trio a job for some easy cash, and no one can get over just how well Cassidy cleans up in a suit.  
> Cass/of brief sex scene, non-graphic, and some jealousy!

"Thanks, Dani, we'll be in contact when we get to the checkpoint," Tulip says over the phone with a feisty grin. She motions for Jesse to zip up her dress and he comes forward, fiddling with his own clothes. 

He hates these stupid little engagements. Misses his worn-in, all black ensemble with the glinting tips. 

This suit is also all black, just nicer materials. The pants are comfortably slim-tailored enough that his ankles don't quite feel so naked without the leather wrap of his cowboy boots encasing them. The squared loafers are pushing it, he thinks. "Fuckin' Cassidy got to keep his Vans," he mutters, holding Tulip's hip while he fishes for the tiny zipper over her ass and slides it up, slowly, stepping too close so his pelvis greets the curve of her suggestively. 

"Cass got to keep his Vans because he chose a suit that _went with them_. You picked all black, dummy," Tulip fires back, swatting his hands away and then turning around with a miscevious grin to drag him in quick and rough by his undone tie for a kiss. "Plus, he's not gone be with us and _we_ needed ta match." Tulip fusses with Jesse's hair briefly and curves to look over her shoulder at the pair of them in the mirror. 

She's right. They look _good_ together, better than they have in a while. Like the old days, he muses. His cuff links and tie pin (laid out by her accessories on the table) match the dark gemstone green of her tight dress, just as her blacked-out accessories match the rest of him. Her tall heeled booties, perched by the door, are matte black, and all the hardware of her dress and clutch are black steel. He slides a hand down, cupping over her ass when she presses close, a tease.

She's hot for it, excited. Loves doing these odd jobs for Dani and her "business partners". Jesse kisses back enthusiastically, gripping at her until she pushes him away with a chuckle to go finalize her hair and makeup. "Hurry up," the yells at Cassidy through the bathroom door and knocks twice, a stern punctuation. 

"A'right, Jaysis. Now, look," the door cracks open just a sliver. "I'm not responsible fer either o'ya jumpin' on me nob when I come out, yeh hear?" Tulip looks at Jesse and they both arch an eyebrow. 

" _Really_?" Tulip asks with a laugh. "It's just a suit, Cass, ain't no panties droppin' over you," she says with an almost-painful eye-roll. "You're wasting time that _I'm_ gonna get blamed for, getting ready. Move it!" 

A couple seconds of grumbling and shifting fabric later, the door opens to reveal a very different vampire than what went in the room just over half an hour ago. 

Cassidy steps out in a dark but vibrant blue tailored suit that is slim-cut and ends just at his tapered ankles. He's left the matte-black, houndstooth-woven silk shirt open at the throat (which has been shaved-up under the curve of jawbone) and actually put product in his curly-wild hair so that the tight coils lay suggestively-soft atop his head, accentuating a manicured scruff over his cheeks and chin.

Sinful and eye-catching. Inviting fingers and mouths all over. 

Jesse quirks an eyebrow and tries to control his lurching, mouth-watering reaction beyond that, but Tulip doesn't. Her jaw drops slightly with a wide, baffled grin and her fingers flex under her elbows, wanting to touch. She's far less shy than Jesse can be, so with a saucy glance his way, she moves forward.

Cass is already smirking, watching Tulip walk over to meet him in the doorway. She reaches up and fingers at his velvet lapels while she looks him over, seemingly checking the fit. Her fingers drift over a small brooch by the button hole of his lapel, in lieu of a pocket silk or other eye-catcher. 

"You look fantastic," she says, earning a quick, pleased grin. 

"Oh!" Cass jumps and steps back into the bathroom, coming out with a pair of dark-rimmed Pantos eyeglasses that he pushes up his nose. The sides glint a dark blue in the light, matching the suit flawlessly.

He looks entirely not-himself, which is the point, tonight. He's playing a baffled heir-apparent idiot son with money to burn at a charity event, and is there to both invite distraction and possibly drink someone under the table if need be. 

His job is, at it's most base, to draw attention when he's told to. And he's already doing a fantastic job. 

Between them, it'll probably be necessary to start a drinking game that Cassidy's undead self will absolutely win; their target is a similar character to Cass' fictional one -- far too young for her enormous wealth, out to prove daddy wrong in all the worst ways...but she holds a thumb drive that they need to steal. The handoff is set for one a.m. in the kitchens, and they'll need to slip it off the heiress before then. 

The good news is, she's prone to all sorts of bedfellows, and well hey...isn't Cassidy? Personally, he's hoping to bed her and light out with the thumb drive quickly. All he'd needed to hear was "pretty little redhead" for that idea to take hold. 

"You look fuckin' gorgeous, luv" Cass breathes, twirling Tulip around with a soft laugh and then glancing over at Jesse. "Whaddya think, Padre? D'i make decent bait or no?" He turns himself slowly, winking dramatically at Tulip when he faces her, making her giggle. He even opens the jacket while he's modeling to show the gold-metaled bracers hugging up his narrow sides, disappearing over his shoulders.

Jesse's mouth works briefly but nothing much comes out; he's still a little floored at how much Cassidy has managed to go from your average dumpster fire to actual walking-talking-fuckboy-millionaire in half an hour with little more than a good grooming and a "borrowed" suit. 

 _He must'a really been super rich at one point_ , _like he said_ , Jesse thinks to avoid the answer (a resounding _YES)_ to Cass' question. 

"Well. I'll take me complements on the silent side, shall I? At least yer lookin sharp, too. Coulda picked summat besides black again, though, surely?" Cass teases, sitting on the bed by Jesse and hooking lissome fingers in his wrist cuff for a teasing tug. 

They'd taken to buying that one room after the last, successful evening on the road, and no one is the least bit sorry for it. Jesse's coming around, or so Tulip says. _He's just gotta get his fat head out of his own dumb ass._

Jesse nods woodenly, still trying to reign in this sudden and intense instinct to pull Cassidy over for a kiss, run his own fingers over those invitingly soft lapels and slim but _strong_ thighs encased in quality blue wool. Cass seems to notice this restraint and misreads it, pulls his hand back with a little sigh. 

"Look, Padre..." He fidgets and sighs again, going quiet, and for a minute the only sounds in the room are Tulip clacking plastic containers and hairbrushes on the countertop and the rattle of the overabused A/C. "I'll back off, a'right? But," he waggles a finger at Jesse's mouth as it drops open in protest. "Yer gonna come 'round, we all t'ree know it's jus' _righ' there_ , an yer gonna feel like a damn eejit when it finally does happen." He claps a hand over Jesse's thigh and stands, going over to make better use of his company with Tulip. 

* * *

 

"Alright, Cass, yore up," Jesse says into the earpiece. They're at a gala-type fundraising event for some such hospital or another, all full of rich benefactors who want the tax write-offs and a leg over. 

Cassidy's seen a million of 'em before. 

But the lass sittin' a few tables away at the bar has his attention riveted to her. She's his target, only good lord they didn't tell her she'd be so bloody gorgeous. Cass stares at the frosted-over window in front of him and tries to ignore his immediate desire, which would probably fuck the job up. 

She's fucking _Irish_. He hadn't bothered to learn her name, just another drop in the bucket, as it were... But Aoife O'Connell, heiress to a nearly-billion dollar international business is seriously _fucking his world up_. 

She's just a couple inches taller than Tulip, with flared, deliciously curved hips and a bosom that he imagines would make quite a nice handful, all wrapped snug in an ivory-creme bodycon dress that ends at mid-thigh. Very tasteful, not particularly eye-catching. That's probably her aim. But all that bloody hair... It's vibrant red, natural, and spilling in barrel curls more than halfway down her back, taking Cassidy's overtaxed braincells with it. He wants to run his fingers through it, bury his face in it. Think of a tiny nation he hasn't seen in a very long time... 

Cass clears his throat and swallows the remainder of his drink to get his mind back on the job. 

"Right. See yez on the flip side," Cass reaches up and turns off his mic, knowing full well they're about to get an unnecessary and distracting earful. 

Cass orders a bottle of whisky and another flute of the champagne Aoife's drinking and gets his nerves together. _Come on, boyo, she's just another broad you're gonna stick it to, who gives a shite if she's bloody Irish. Makes no difference._ He downs half the whisky quickly and picks up the flute of champagne, turning--

When he nearly drops everything, because Aoife is standing directly behind him, one perfect red eyebrow cocked in unaffected curiosity. 

"Did I 'ear someone from the Ol' Country over 'ere orderin' me a drink?" She asks. And Christ, her accent is clean-cut and lovely. 

Caught off guard, Cassidy freezes and then laughs as she takes the drink, eyeing over his choice for himself. "Aye, Lassie. I suppose yeh did. T'ought yeh might like some more natural comp'ny?" 

"Ooh, what is that I'm hearing, then? Is that sodding Balbriggan?" Baffled, Cass can only nod at her toothy grin. "It's thin though. Haven't been home in a while, darlin'?" 

"Aye, yeh could say that. An age, at least. More?" He cocks an eyebrow at Aoife's empty flute and she smiles. He motions for another while she props a hip on the stool next to his.

"Actually, I was rather hoping you'd be a better distraction than drink-buyer, Balbriggan. I'm in need of burning, oh...about half an hour or so? Unless you've got a much better offer?" She checks the time on her phone and bites one dark, oxblood-red lip. Cass mirrors her motion and angles his chin. 

"Well then. Shall we?" Aoife smirks and waves lazily at her guard, telling him to stay put while she leads Cassidy through the throng of warm, pulsing bodies. 

It seems a little too easy, but frankly, the vampire's curious and quite turned on at this point, so he goes along easily enough. 

But as soon as the door to a roomy coat closet closes behind their shoulders, Aoife turns, darts one hand up, and picks Cassidy's earpiece out of his ear.

She's been a bloody step ahead the entire time. And now he's gone and fucked up another job. 

Before Cass can go kicking himself, though, Aoife's turning the switch on and putting it in her own ear, clearing her throat and running one proprietary hand over the length of Cass' torso, exploring him. He lets her, completely stunned, standing there loose-limbed with a touch of awe. 

The tables have bloody well turned, indeed. 

"Yes, hello there? I assume you're a partner to this adorable Irishman I found oggling me at the bar?" She smiles when Cass' jaw drops, indignant. 

" _Uh... Yeah?_ " Jesse. Cass isn't sure who'd be more mad at him, but at least Jesse's fairly predictable. 

"Right. Well, I have him, I guess you could say we're playin' hostage. Don't worry, he won' mind. You can have him back come morning, minor scrapes and bruises. And my thumb drive, if he plays nice. I'll let you two talk before I crush this mic." 

Cass takes back the ear piece and narrows his eyes. He can smell her arousal, but she's enjoying this, the cat and mouse aspect. "Padre, I t'ink she jus' wants a nice fuck an she'll give the drive to whoever. Doesn' seem too attached ta the buyer. S'that righ, luv?" Aoife slides her hands under his jacket, fingering the bracers and over his beltline and smiles again. 

"Sounds about right. See, I'm a fucking billionaire, darlin'. Wha' reason do I have to sell it ta the highes' bidder? But... an infiltration team tha' quietly sends a pretty Irish fuckboy my way will get my attention fas'er than any dollar amount I've ever been shown. Plus, I assume your proprietor 'as a nice, reliable buyer who's going to really fuck up my dad's world. And I'm all fer that, love" Cass has lost his jacket, bracers, and most of his shirt by the time Aoife flicks her eyes back up from his magpie tattoo to his eyes. And Cassidy understands that yearning for chaos, of having everything and also absolutely nothing, because, shit, isn't that his _life_? 

Instead of following that dark, morbid rabbit trail, he clears his throat and flicks off the receiver and pulls his shirt tails out, turning them to place Aoife's arse on the small lamp-table she'd backed him into. He nearly misses the weak sort of agreement that Jesse mutters back over the line before Aoife flicks it across the small room and curls her arms behind Cass' head, pulling him down for a deep kiss. 

And Christ, she looks so clean-cut and classy but the girl's raking him over fire and brimstone within minutes. They don't have much time before the next oversexed rich couple flounders toward an available space, so the fuck is quick and rough and up the back, but Aoife comes with a low growl, pleasing him as he spills into a condom. 

They re-settle their clothes, panting a little, and leave with her brushing at a wet spot on his trousers with a small smile. 

"So. Balbriggan. You have an 'otel room round here or are we bettin' on my attributes ta pay fer a nice evening?" Aoife curls her fingers into one of Cass' bracers and looks up, eyes sparking mischief. 

"More money, the better, luv," he says. "Can't manage to harangue us a couple bottles of good whisky, can yeh?" It's almost too easy, how she smiles and rolls her eyes, curling a finger at a passing waiter who's all too panicked and frightened to do anything but please the largest proprietor of the evening. He stumbles back with two new, sealed bottles of sinfully ancient stills, easily thousands of dollars worth in their hands, and they leave. 

* * *

"Jesse, good lord, he'll turn up. She said in the mornin'," Tulip sighs, aggrivated at Jesse's incessant, furious pacing. It's barely nine a.m. and he's smoked at least eight cigarettes in the last hour alone. She's seen him dial his phone half that many times, too, before hanging up with a growl. 

"I told you, quit letting him pick up _other people,_ " she adds for good measure. Her phone buzzes just as she's sitting down in a metal deck chair outside of their room to wait. 

_why the fuck's he pacin like that?_

Tulip smirks and taps out a reply as a sleek Mercedes pulls up and Aoife and Cassidy exit it. She watches Cass' mouth curl up at the edges, reading her text, and then he pockets his phone, coming round the car to give the redhead a hug and kiss. He takes something from her and she winks at Jesse and Tulip before sliding into her car and leaving, just as simple as that. 

Cassidy comes over, a little sheepish and tired under his umbrella. He's in different clothes than he was dropped off in, and his suit's on a hanger slung over his shoulder. 

"She take you shopping?" Tulip asks, peering over the tops of her glasses at his simple skinny jeans, tee shirt and zip-up. 

"Eh, no, haha. 'parently she's prone ter takin' men 'ome, an jus has like a trunk of ol' abandoned clothes she let me go t'ru. Got a coupl'a shirts, since t'ats what I tend ter go t'ru fastest." He yawns hugely and holds his hand out to her with the thumb drive in his palm. 

"We appreciate you prostituting yourself out for this job, ya know," she teases, taking it and dialling Dani on her phone. Jesse grumbles and disappears into the room, hauling bags out to the car for a distraction. Cass watches him in curious silence while Tulip belays the good news to their employer and hangs up. 

"Christ luv, yer right. He's in fer a rude awakenin' if he doesn' come 'round soon enough, though." 

"He just needs a push, Cass. We'll get him bothered and see what happens," she stage whispers conspiratorially, goading a giggle out of them both until Jesse halts his violent packing of the car and puts his hands on his hips at them. 

"Are we gonna go fuckin eat or what?" He fusses, slamming the trunk shut with a huff. Cass and Tulip share a look and stride for the car, suppressing laughter. 

Cass approaches the rear door on Jesse's side and leans in close, getting the preacher under the circle of shade with him. He leans in and pecks a chaste kiss on Jesse's mouth with a quick, feral grin just between them. Jesse's eyebrows shoot up and he freezes, then smiles and slides into the front seat.

"If you two ever leave me," he says, sliding into the back seat, "I'm gonna come find and marry that bird. She was Irish, aye, an' a good lay. An' she made me a fan- _tastic_ full Irish breakfast, firs' thing this morning." 

Tulip and Jesse roll their eyes in the front seat, and she puts the car into drive, headed to drop off their payload.

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jesse and Cass have a little drink-and-spill sesh, a bar fight, an argument, and cuddles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really struggled with ch3, I apologize if it was shit. It was way nicer in my head than I think it came out in text, and I'm ashamed. I may do a rewrite and/or just delete it and write another chapter altogether.  
> Please let me know how this chapter hits you, comments give me drive and courage.

"Cassidy," the man so named turns his attention back from keeping a watchful eye on Tulip to Jesse, across the table from him. "Tell me bout the firs' time you been with a boy? 'Nother man?" Jesse slurs. 

Cass' eyebrows creep up his forehead and a slow smirk hitches across one side of his face.  _About fuckin time, Padre,_ he thinks.

Cassidy takes another shot of the whisky being passed between them and sits back, pressing his shoulder blades into the worn cushion of the booth they're in. Jesse's eyes are glassy with drink but he's alert, if slightly uncoordinated. 

Tulip is across the dim, smallish C-shaped bar, very successfully hustling a group of blue collar men out of their week's earnings at the pool tables. The boys are in a lone booth with a naked yellow bulb hanging low over it, feet propped by one another's hips, actually relaxing for the first time in weeks. 

They've got a _nice_ hotel room calling their name for the next couple nights, with one wide, plush bed that Jesse can't push out of his mind, now. 

"Oh, I dunno Padre. Not really a romantic story, that. If ya wanna get technical," he says, rolling his eyes playfully and smirking, "it were just suckin' a bloke off in a snow covered alley in Chicago fer some heroin caps." He glances back at Tulip and lights a cigarette, passing the pack and lighter over to Jesse. He knows the preacher will ask soon anyway. "I _really_ like women," he adds, all teeth glinting in his usual quick, feral grin before it softens with some memory. "An the odd bloke here n' there."

Jesse lights up and watches the ghost of something flicker across Cassidy's face before he coughs and that sheepish, charismatic mask drops back down, shuttering off something _real_. 

"Not _that_ ," Jesse says, leaning in. "The first one that meant something. Like Tulip does." Jesse's eyes are dark, inscrutable in the low light. And Cassidy doesn't necessarily want to answer, but at the same time he's getting bloody well tired of playing this dancing game with Jesse. 

If sharing a bit of himself gets the preacher in bed (and naked!) well, then who's he to deny the man some basic information? He smashes his cigarette into the ashtray and nods.

"Fine. But if we're hashin' out exes, you gotta give up some ghosts, too." Cass sighs and pats down his pockets for his vape mod filled with hash. Jesse's eyes narrow but he nods along anyway, watching Cassidy take a hit and settle back. 

"Ain't nothing to say bout me on that end, Cass. It's just been Tulip. I never did more'n make out with Sabina, and after I left Tulip in Dallas, I went to the church. Not much sex to be having with one'a these on," he brushes fingertips over the white collar and smiles, slow and sleepy. Then his eyebrows raise and he nods toward Cassidy. _Go on,_ _then_ , the look says _._  

"Right. Must'a been 'round'a early sixties. An' I met this bloke called Dean t'ru some mutual friends... He was _pretty_ , a businessman, like they all were back then. Liked ta party;  _really_ loved what yeh'd now consider like a low-grade meth, but back then they sold it in stores for dieting, like. Speed, bloody well over-t'counter Amphetamines.

"Anyway, me an' Dean n' the rest, we're partyin' an havin' on one night with some o'those mutual friends, and 'e asks me to come out in th'alley fer a smoke an' I come along, high as a kite, too, an' the bugger jus' kisses me there, in th'dark. Jus', I mean... as soon as th'door closes. So I'm lookin' round, cos you gotta remember this shite's deadly  _illegal_ at the time, right? An' I'm not so worried 'bout meself as 'im. Poor sod's got a wife and t'ree girls at 'ome ta look after. Anyway, 'e tells me there, 'e's liked me fer ages, wants ta go back ta mine 'n have it off. So I think well, why t'fuck not? Dean's bloody _hot_." He smiles when Jesse snorts, puffing again on his vape and continuing.

"So we go, an I've been buggered 'fore this, fer cash, er drugs, like, so I offer. But nah, he's dying fer it, wants a go. So I'm real careful and whatnot. Gentle," Cassidy reaches for the bottle of whisky and traces a finger down the back of Jesse's hand where he's clenching the glass, breathing a little forcefully. He blinks and releases the bottle with a cough, righting himself. Cass smirks and continues. "Anyway. In all, we met off an' on in secret for a year 'r so, til I moved on. Tired of the diet, more'n anythin' else. City livin' gets nasty, quick. Everythin' tastes like fast food waste and smog from th'pollution." Cass takes another shot and scrapes his nail against the label, avoiding Jesse's eyes a little. He sniffs and rights himself, sitting straighter. 

"Nothin' terribly romantic, Padre, as I said. But I do miss him. _It_. Sometimes." Jesse watches Cassidy look back over at the pool tables, that ghost back in front of his eyes while he ostensibly watches Tulip's back. 

They both know she can handle her own, well enough. 

"What do you miss?" Jesse prompts, taking back the booze and pouring for them both, since Cassidy forgot. It strikes Jesse how many things- _cues_ \- he misses, being caught up in himself and the whole God-Genesis mission. Like how old and haunted Cassidy's eyes can get when he's left on his own for very long. Or when he talks about himself, which is practically never. He tells funny stories, sure. But that's deflecting. He's got a hundred and twenty years worth of stories, and they only know a couple anecdotes even after nearly a year. 

"Ah, yeh know." He waves a hand lazily.  "Comp'ny of another bloke. Someone easy ter talk to. It offers a diff'rent kind o' companionship than women. Feels... I dunno. More natural, sometimes." Jesse hums and Cass pauses, considering his next statement. "Touchin's completely diff'rent. Lots o' times bloke's get caught up, jus' wanna come as soon as possible. But if yeh make yerself go slow, cautious, like," he trails off, swirling inky fingertips along the grain of the table, drawing Jesse's eyes. He pitches forward and drums his fingers; a change of energy from wistful to rambunctious.

"The fuckin sex, tho. Women are... Women. There's a connection, right? Or there isn't, and the sex is either just a one-off an it's great cos it feels great fer a minute 'r two, or it's great cos yeh _like 'em_ an' it makes it just that much better. But the fuckin prostate, mate." Cassidy wiggles two fingers and raises his eyebrows, chuckling at Jesse's blank-but-startled face. "Nothin' like that feelin'. Fuckin _nothin_. I mean, wha's better'n that? 'avin a best friend yeh fuck? Tha's like..  the _goal_ , innit? Love. Tha's what everyone's always after. Christ, not that I've loved even a _hundredth_ o'the people I've fucked, but. It's the ones tha' stick out, right? Coupl'a lassies.... Coupl'a blokes." 

Jesse hums and nods, staring at the grain of the resin-coated wood table under their fingers, slowly getting covered in flecks of ash and spilled droplets of whisky. He jolts when a sharp sound from Cass interrupts the white noise in his ears, snapping back to his wide hazel gaze and then over toward where Tulip's hustling ring has come to it's inevitable head. 

The three big, beefy welders she'd been working for an hour or more were out of both money and patience. Shouting had erupted, and soon enough one of them had snapped a pool cue against the table and gotten Cassidy's full attention. 

Both men were across the room in a blink, raring for a good brawl. Tulip shouted her protestations at their interrupting her fun, but they quickly died on her tongue when the second man (Cass had quickly knocked the first one out with a right hook) the one with the pool cue, tried to jab Jesse with it and missed. 

Fortunately, Jesse deflected every blow and got several good hits on the man, while Tulip took care of her own villain by grabbing a pool ball in each hand and banging him on every available surface until he collapsed when she knocked him in the temple. Cassidy watched, ready to step in if necessary. 

 _Unfortunately_ , the guy Jesse was swinging against managed to clip him in the ribs with the weighted end of the pool cue; just enough hesitation on Jesse's part to earn an attempted stab from the sharp end of the broken stick, which Cass stepped in front of with inhuman speed. 

The splintered wood went through the front of his shoulder with a squelch and a yelp, and everyone instantly froze in shock, staring wide-eyed at the protruding wood and then at Cass, standing there with a furious grimace. But after a glance told the vampire that Jesse and Tulip were both fine, if concerned, his teeth were buried in Mr Beef's neck, tearing so easily, draining him quickly. 

"Shit, Cass," Jesse hissed, looking around them to see if anyone was watching before yanking the pool cue out of Cassidy's shoulder. The vampire growled at the twinge and bit harder; the man's breath was escaping his torn esophagus in gurgling bubbles against Cass' gums as his hands beat uselessly against the vampire's chest, scrabbling.

Tulip climbed over her fighting partner (now stirring but still down) and darted over, watching the wound seal up even as her and Jesse made sure no one saw them in the closed-off corner. 

"Drop him," she muttered, swatting Cass' hip as the barman ran around the corner, yelling at them to take the (now finished) fight outside. He stopped short at the bloody mess, unconscious bodies at their feet, and the splintered pool cue and pointed at the side door mutinously. The trio hastened out the door with Cassidy wiping at his face. 

"Cass what the FUCK?!" Jesse yelled once they were out in the alleyway, shoving the vampire into the wall. "Y'cant just _do that_!" 

"He fuckin' stabbed me Jesse! An' it was meant fer YOU! Yeh right cunt!" Cass hollered right back, incensed. "If he'd stabbed yeh, 'er _TULIP_ , would yez 'ave thought twice if we'd stabbed 'im righ' back? Fuck no, I'll answer that fer ya. But I get a mouthful ta heal up from that fucking wanker and I'm th'bad guy, a'right." He throws his hands up and storms off, in the general direction of the hotel but away from the Chevelle. Jesse's left standing there, speechless next to Tulip who, for once, agrees with their friend over Jesse. 

Cassidy's right; they all know it. If one of _them_ had been stabbed, the other would have beaten that guy to death. Why should his death (if he is dead, he might not be, Cass didn't have time to drain him much) mean less because it was _Cass_ who took the shot? 

It shouldn't. Plain and simple. 

Jesse sighs in resignation and starts to go after Cassidy, but Tulip stops him. "He's mad, you two'll just fight more. Let me." She tosses him the keys and runs after their friend, catching up easily. Jesse gets in the car and drives slowly back to the hotel to clean up and think. 

When Tulip returns to the hotel room empty handed just over half an hour later, Jesse huffs and sits back against the headboard, irritated but certain that Cass will turn up soon. 

Several hours later, though, he's growing more and more restless as their friend's absence continues to make itself known. Tulip has long since fallen asleep, curled on her side against him in their wide bed, but Jesse's other side is empty and cold. He fingers his phone, debating whether or not to text the vampire when a tall, slim shadow crosses by the window. It seems to hesitate for several minutes before a key-card slides in the lock and the door opens quietly. 

"Hey," Jesse whispers when the door closes, extricating himself from Tulip delicately so he can get up. 

"S'alright, Jess. I'm jus' goin fer a wash 'n I'll come ta bed, yeah?" Cass sighs, dropping his key card and jacket on the table and plugging up a dead, shattered phone. Jesse watches his shadow slide through the dark room, obviously seeing everything clear as day, and goes back to staring at the ceiling when the door shuts and the water pipes start whining in the wall between them. 

He lets Cassidy have his space for all of two minutes before Jesse gets the rest of the way out of bed and barges quietly into the bathroom.

Cass hears the door go and rolls his eyes, just standing under the spray. He's slowly and lethargically washing away the dark remnants of that guy's blood from his beard, neck and chest, scrubbing the brown out from under his nails. He hears Jesse close the toilet lid and sit on it, can almost hear the shift of skin as the man leans forward and puts his head in his hands. 

Jesse fights against the sudden thought that this scene is a bit like a confessional booth, making him want to both laugh and get up and leave. He clears his throat and says what he needs to:

"I'm sorry, for reacting how I did, Cass. You were right. He meant us harm, _serious_ harm, and deserved what he got, no matter who he got it from." Jesse waits but doesn't get much of a response, aside from the pause from the water splashing in the basin of the tub. At least Cassidy's listening. 

Jesse mulls over what he wants to say next. That first bit was scripted, something he's been going over in his head for _hours_. But the next part, about Cass and Tulip also probably being right about him _wanting_ Cassidy--as more than just a friend-- is a stickier subject. He can't quite figure out how to say it without sounding like an idiot... or an asshole. 

"Yeh've never seen me eat anythin'," Cassidy supplies, resuming his wash, if the shift of his silhouette behind the frosted-over curtain is anything to go by.

Jesse watches with thinly- veiled interest as that long, lean body leans one way and the other, reaching for their soaps and one of the little dollar-store shower poufs Tulip bought them all (his is red). What Cassidy said snaps to his focus now, though. Cass is right. Again. So far he's never actually watched the vampire feed on anything, or bite anyone. He's seen the aftermath, sometimes. Animals, or Miles that one time, back in Annville. Cass won't bite people, _not if they don't deserve it._

"Been living wit' a monster for nearly a year now, Padre, hadn't even seen 'im yet." 

"Fuck's sake, Cassidy, you're not a goddamn _monster_." Jesse growls, sitting up straighter and glaring at the curtain-blur where Cass' head should be. "You're an _idiot_ who drinks blood sometimes and _drives me insane_ , but God help me, I can't imagine you being gone anymore. Tonight was bad enough, watching you walk off like that. Knowing full well that's how you crash-landed into my life, and you could walk out just as easily." 

There's a long pause while Cassidy digests this outburst, trying not to react with his own childish finger-pointing. In the end, just before Jesse growls under his breath and stomps out, Cassidy chimes in. "I don' think I _can_ leave anymore, Jess. I t'ought about it, out walkin' aroun', but I couldn'. I came back, fer yez two, and the bloody nice bed... I don'... I'm wi'yez til the end, mate. Whatever come wi'it." 

Jesse pauses by the door with his back to Cass as the water shuts off and the curtain opens, and his friend grabs for a towel. 

"Well then come on, asshole." He says over his shoulder. "It's way past bedtime." 

Cass smirks with a sharp exhale and nods, towelling off quickly and slipping into a pair of boxer briefs before padding across the carpet in Jesse's footsteps. He's been sleeping in the middle most of the time, stealing everyone's snuggles and body heat. A few times, Tulip has worked her way I to the center, demanding to be surrounded with male attention. 

Tonight, Jesse worldessly crawls into the bed and butts his side up against Tulip's back, leaving a large space behind him for Cassidy to clamber in. 

"Cmere, Cass," Jesse whispers, tugging at the vampire's fingers until he slides closer, still sharing body heat but not skin. Cass hasn't been shy about throwing his long limbs all over the both of them thus far, but after their argument he seems hesitant. Still unsure how close he's wanted, or welcome. 

Jesse makes the decision for him, turning onto his side and pulling Cass in against his chest. He feels his friend tense slightly and then relax in stages, breath coming in shallow bursts against his collarbones. Cassidy's feet must be dangling off the edge of the bed, but he seems comfortable, or at least pleased with his position. 

Tulip rolls in her sleep, cupping her tiny frame behind Jesse's with her hand traversing his bare ribs until it latches onto Cassidy's wrist and she hums, going quiet again. 

Just before Cass drifts off, sleep-warm and supremely pleased with the way Jesse's holding him, he feels Jesse's hand detach from his side and slide upward, cupping over his neck and up until his thumb presses Cass' chin up and his fingers trail in the short hairs at the back of his head. 

It's much softer this time, with Jesse tilting down for a kiss that lingers but it still shallow and timid. Curious, maybe. Cassidy lets the man lead and stays otherwise still, very pleased _indeed_.

"G'nite, Cass," Jesse breathes against his mouth and settles back down. 

As if he could _possibly_ sleep, now.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cassidy gets injured (further) while saving Tulip in a car chase, and Jesse picks up the pieces (sort of literally) while they find a bolthole in the middle of France.  
> Fluff, H/C, banter, cuddles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, sorry this took so long, but it's....long. 
> 
> Next chapter is when they do the 'do'! 
> 
> Whoooooaaaaa!

"Fuck fuck _FUCK_! Okay  _okay_ , you're _fine_ , stop fucking  _moving_!" Tulip is screaming over the popping flames at Cassidy, trying to help him shovel his guts back into his gaping abdominal cavity. The idiot had shoved her out of the way of a fast-flying piece of door shrapnel from a courier van and taken it to the gut himself. 

Better him than her, but still. 

She can't stand the way he's whimpering on the ground, gritting what's left of his teeth against what must be insurmountable pain while Jesse takes out the last few Grail operatives in the car-chase-gone-wrong that had started all this. 

(Well, really it had started when Cass got himself captured and tortured and mostly disarticulated by them, but who's keeping track, right now?) 

Jesse runs back to the two of them, keeping low in case more men are to follow, and drops to his knees on the blood-wet blacktop. 

"Christ," he mutters, surveying the damage. Cass is already knitting new skin at the edges of the wound, not nearly fast enough though, considering his body was ready struggling to heal the damage the Grail had done. He needs a  _lot_  of blood, like  _now_. 

"I said  _now_ , Jesse," Tulip interrupts his thoughts, jolting the preacher to attention despite the fog of white noise in his ears.

He tells himself that Cassidy's been worse off than this and come back fine,  _he'll_   _be fine_. But having all that gore under your fingers, (hell, discovering and carrying it out of Masada not an hour ago) is so much worse than just seeing it from across a room. It's infinitely more  _real_. Jesse nods and staggers to his feet, dragging the closest still-gurgling Grail member over and slits his arm open at the elbow artery, draping the flowing wound over Cass' guppying mouth. 

He fights against the rise of bile, seeing Tulip's dying body in New Orleans under his hands instead of Cassidy's quickly-sealing torso and slowly-growing hands and foot. It's wholly different and yet just as difficult to stomach, seeing someone he loves hurt  _so badly._

The record unhelpfully scratches to a halt in his brain, his eyes widening. 

He  _does_  love Cass. He  _has to,_  right? At least a little. 

No.  _Fuck that._

_A lot._

He  _does_ love this hapless Irish trainwreck. And he knows Tulip does, too. They both probably knew it before him, he's more sure than ever. 

They've been teasing him for  _weeks_. 

Cassidy makes a wet sort of grumble and shoves the now-dead guy off him with his stumpy forearms, rolling and then pressing up to a shaky stand with a bright pink weal striping his abdomen. He's leaning heavily on Tulip, trying to balance through the vertigo on his one foot. Jesse grabs him by his mangled shirt and hauls Cassidy over his shoulder into a fireman's carry.

"Can't beat that healthcare plan, can yeh?" He chuckles as Jesse practically tosses him into the backseat of an unmarked SUV and climbs in on top of him to close the door. Cass is eyeing them both with a bit of weary playfulness as the preacher slides around the seat and behind him, shoving bloody stumps out of his way so he can prop Cassidy's top half against his thighs and chest.

Jesse huffs as he wraps his arms around Cass' shoulders, holding him steady, and looks out the windshield over the burning cars and bodies they've left behind, eyes and ears perked and eager to get out of sight as soon as possible. Tulip hotwires the car easier than before and they peal out, driving for hours across the French countryside while Cassidy sleeps with his face slouching down Jesse's arm, the preacher's hand in his grubby hair, and slowly heals.

Eventually they happen upon a tiny town that seems to actually just be an Inn made of little stone cottages and a large central building with a shop and pub inside. 

Tulip parks and goes in, being currently the least bloody and dishevelled one of the three, and asks for a room. One thing they've already noticed since coming to save Cass is that Europe doesn't seem to have many bed size options in their cheaper hotels, so she asks for a two-room cottage in case the injured Cassidy needs the space. 

If not, they're not exactly  _unused_  to smashing together onto a double-bed. 

She comes back to the car with keys and paperwork, driving them the short distance across the campus to the furthest-out little cottage. Jesse wakes Cass up with a hand through his matted hair and shoulders him again, keeping close as Tulip lets them into the little building and runs off to park the stolen car elsewhere. 

Might as well cover their tracks as much as possible, being both chased by an unrelenting enemy with limitless connections  _and_  in foreign lands. They stick out like sore thumbs.

Jesse sets Cass on the edge of the coffee table, figuring it's probably the easiest thing to clean the blood off of in the place, at least until he finds a bathroom. The cottage is decorated with plush fabrics and dated, worn furniture throughout. The vampire nods when Jesse holds a finger up to his mouth, telling him to keep quiet, and winces, looking over the jagged edges of his missing limbs and swiping with a disgusted look at his blood-soaked clothes. 

At least his belly sealed up quick. Guts (and the mucus, especially) are far harder to clean up. 

Tulip barges in the door while Jesse's scoping out the rest of the small house, two sizeable (hissing!) cats swinging from her hands by their scruff. Cass arches a brow and narrows his eyes up at her. 

"How t'fuck did yeh catch two outdoor cats?" He asks, laughing gently. Tulip smirks and shrugs, bringing them over. It's a little weird, because he doesn't have hands, so she winces as she cuts open each neck, one at a time, and helps him hold them to his mouth so he can gulp their blood down quickly.  

"Aw, shit. I was gonna move him into the bath tub before we did that," Jesse grumbles, coming back to them just as Cassidy's sucking at the remnants of the second cat. He'd been too greedy to make a mess of them, so there's hardly any spillage other than what's oozing around the edges of his makeshift sock-and-shirt bandages. 

"Nothing to fuss over, Jesse. He's done, for now. We might have to get a little creative later, but..." Tulip shrugs and disappears with the dead critters, presumably tossing them into the woods outside their little home for the night. 

"Alright. Wanna shower?" Jesse asks, clapping his hands and rubbing them together. Tulip comes back in and gives him an over-dramatized wink and thumbs up over Cass' shoulder. 

 _Smooth, genius_. Cue the eyeroll.

"Oh, dear me, Padre. Are ya takin' advan'age o' me in me disabled state?" Cassidy chuckles, cocking his chin up at Jesse where he's standing too close. He has to tip all the way back like this, which Jesse thinks looks all too sinful, right now. 

Which, given his next statement, should probably be a huge red flag.

"You don't have hands or a foot, jackass. One of us has to help, and it ain't gonna be Tulip," he says with a little too much grit.

Cass arches a brow and concedes, waving his forearms around in mock surrender. "A'right, a'right, Jaysis. Take me then, darlin'. Ahm all yers." 

Jesse rolls his eyes and scoops Cassidy up bridal-style to navigate the narrow doorways toward the main bedroom, where a large claw-foot tub is. "Would Tulip be jealous o'me? What wi'yeh carryin' me o'er t'resholds n'all," Cassidy laughs, only laughing harder when Jesse flushes red and plonks the vampire down on the closed toilet lid. 

"Shut up," Jesse mutters half-heartedly, turning on the water to heat up and then dropping to one knee in front of Cass. His fingers go to Cassidy's belt and start working it open, unzipping flies and snapping open buttons, and only then does he dare to look up at his friend.

Cass is biting his lips against some joke he  _very_  obviously wants to say, but he doesn't want to scare Jesse off. Thanks preacher looks  _good_  on his knees, frankly. It's going straight to Cass' head. He watches Jesse roll his eyes and chuckles. "Awh, whaddya expect, Padre? Yeh know full well wha' yer doin' down there, an' I've been tryna get yeh on yer knees fer  _weeks_ , now! Months, even; I was sweet on yeh from th'beginning." He nudges Jesse's calf with his one foot and grins when the other man swipes it away roughly.

"You were  _not_ , you were too busy stealing my money, clothes, and communion wine, and... and tricking the angels into handouts so you could go fuck the girls down at Toadvine!" Jesse retorts, standing and pulling Cassidy's shirt off with perhaps a little too much gusto.  

"Ey, I only fucked  _one girl_  at the whorehouse, an' anyway, that was later, after the jail.  _The bar_ , Jess. D'yeh remember, like, t'first bloody t'ing I said to yeh, 'r were yeh too drunk?" Cass says quietly, looking up at him with a softness in his face that Jesse can't pinpoint. He naturally wants to rail against it, so he does. 

"I don't remember you hitting on me, no." Jesse grunts and struggles to get Cass to stand but he eventually props his friend up, leaning heavily against him chest-to-chest so he can shove his jeans down. They're sticky with drying blood, adhered tightly to the vampire's legs. Cass dangles there, barely balanced on one foot for about a minute, letting Jesse curse under his breath and fight the fabric before he starts squirming away.

"Christ, just get em over me arse and lemme sit again, I can'elp." Cassidy grumbles, arching back against Jesse's hold. He does as he's told, holding Cass awkwardly under his arms so he can sit back down and kick his jeans down while Jesse's pulling. Together they peel off his jeans and Jesse takes a sock and sneaker with him, tossing the lot into a sticky pile by the sink to deal with later, along with his ruined shirt. The other sock has been stuck on the end of his "ankle" to act as a bandage and Jesse slowly picks it away where it's started to stick to the wound, wincing every time Cassidy hisses. Once unwrapped they notice that Cass' foot's starting to come back; the bone is slowly pushing out of the wound and downward to form a loose cluster of fine ankle bones. 

Cassidy otherwise sits there in his underwear, limbs splayed across the space, watching Jesse with a carefully guarded expression that Jesse can't quite parse out. 

"I said, 'wa'ssa matter wi'you Padre, someone beat yeh wi'a dark 'n handsome stick?' See, cos I figured a drunk an' depressed preacher was a good place ta fine a bed fer th'night. And I was right, ha," Cass huffs a laugh, making to scratch nervously at his temple but he just ends up smacking the side of his head with a bloody stump. He grimaces and lets his arm fall back to his lap. "Bit longer'n one night, in t'end, I guess." 

Jesse goes still for a couple moments, pondering. He's still staring at the tapered points of Cassidy's ankles, sort of baffled at how attractive he finds the long, slim legs on his best friend. Had he _ever_ noticed that before? Consciously?

"I suppose you did say that, huh?" He says, quietly. The water's getting warmer now, so Jesse toes off his cowboy boots and shucks his clothes, just slightly too fast to be considered a decent strip tease. 

But Cassidy's old eyes are watching all the same, drinking in every curve and divot of hard muscle and soft meat on Jesse's lean, powerful frame. If he focuses, he can hear Jesse's wet pulse at all the relevant points, but it's the one at the inner groove of his hip that draws the vampire's attention most readily. He licks his lips when Jesse turns to add his black ensemble to the growing pile of bloody fabric. 

It's a familiar scene, and just as quietly, comfortably charged as the last time the two of them were sitting around bloodied and bruised in their underwear, waiting on the water to warm up. Cass is even injured this time, too. Jesse smirks and crosses his arms, leaning on the sink. 

"What would you have done, if I'd responded? Taken you home instead'a gettin' in that bar fight wi' Donnie?" 

Cassidy smiles and snorts, shaking his head. "Whatever you'd wanted, mate. I'm pretty flexible in the arena of sex, you'll find." 

"Oh, I will?" Jesse laughs, shifting his weight. He sticks a hand behind the shower curtain and finds that it's finally gone hot anough to stand under. 

"I keep tellin' ye, Jess. Yer painfully obvious, mate. It's gonna happen, sooner 'r later," Cass straightens and starts nudging at his briefs, anticipating Jesse's next move. 

But the preacher's nice and quick about it; he shucks his own underwear and steps forward to haul Cassidy up, pressing their chests together as he pushes the other man's holey briefs over his ass and down so he can drag both of them into the water. 

Jesse balances Cass against a wall and climbs in first, negotiating the spray and space while the vampire sits himself gingerly on the rim of the tub and swings his legs in. He lets Jesse stand him up facing the spray and wrap strong arms around his chest. 

"Alright, lean back and I'll help wash yore front half and then we'll have ya lean forward and I'll do the back, ok?" Jesse asks, not really expecting a negative response. He doesn't get one; if anything, Cassidy starts giggling and nods, letting his head fall back onto Jesse's shoulder as he presses back, muscles loose and grinning at the ceiling. 

"Go on, get it outta yore system before you explode," Jesse chuckles, soaping up a bath pouf and starting to scrub at the worst-caked areas (which, to be honest, is almost all of his friend's entire person). He's done scrubbing his arms and neck and is working away at Cassidy's chest, slowly revealing the tattoo there, by the time Cass speaks. 

"Nah, Jess. Un'er other circumstances, righ'?" The vampire smiles softly, the mound of his raised cheek brushing Jesse's ear, and lifts one arm into the spray. "Oh," he says softly.

The wrist of it is starting to form, jutting out from the tattered wreck of his forearm in two white stalks and then topped with half-formed little nuggets of bone that are quickly being wrapped in the tight bindings of tendon. Jesse watches-- forgetting his cleaning duties-- in fascination as the joints form and then settle, ready for the next push of bone and meat to construct his palm and fingers. They both look down his body at Cassidy's ankle and see that his heel has muscle and skin now; the arch of his foot is forming at snail-speed, but it's forming nonetheless. 

"Righ' as rain by th' morning, sunshine," Cassidy crows, gingerly putting some weight on his heel-stump to balance a little better. 

"Will ya need more blood?" Jesse intones after several minutes, scrubbing the wiry pouf down over Cass' belly now. He's trying to stand with his hips at an angle, but Cassidy's not being very cooperative. He's thoroughly enjoying the little hitches of breath Jesse emits when his soft cock brushes the curve of his ass. Cass chuckles and shakes his head on Jesse's shoulder, feeling the chest under his wing bones flex and expand again.

"Aye, prob'ly. Already hungry, a'tually. Go'n start a good bar brawl fer us, yeah?" Cassidy cocks and eyebrow with his grin and then holds preternaturally still as Jesse's pinky finger skims the top of his cock. He's trying very hard not to get...well, _hard_. But being _pampered_ isn't exactly something the old buzzard's used to, is it? Cos that shit goes hand-in-hand with being _cared for_ , and nothing lights Proinsias Cassidy's candle like knowing that he's _wanted_. He'll do damn near anything for Jesse Custer (and Tulip, o'course), and it's been that way since day one.

"Alright, I'm gon' push you to the wall and do yore legs n' back." Jesse rubs a soapy hand over his todge and bollicks perfunctorily and then moves along as he talks, blushing behind Cass' shoulder as he presses the vampire forward to brace against the wall on his elbows and drops to a knee with a soap bar and the pouf in each hand.  

Cassidy's ass is directly in his face, now. Christ, he didn't think this through. 

"Are ye gonna clean it 'r kiss it, Jess?" Cass teases, wiggling his butt as much as he can, precariously balanced. Jesse growls quietly and starts at the one good ankle, cleaning up and moving over with quick, perfunctory swipes that scrub the blood and filth away and leave Cass' new flesh bright pink and stinging a little. 

He arches away from a tickle more than once, which some strange undefined part of Jesse catalogues away in his mind after smiling broadly at the reaction and repeating it. Cass grumbles into the wall and flicks water at Jesse, but is otherwise patient and tolerant of the attention. 

He'll, if anything he's fucking basking in it. 

Especially by the time Jesse gets to the front of his legs and has to face the issue of properly washing the cock dangling between them, or making a fuss over it and pushing away his friend who he's managed to grow so close to tonight, alone. Cass isn't even looking at him, eyes slid shut and breathing slow and steady where he's leaning. 

Jesse spends too much time dawdling around mid-thigh and Cassidy reaches down silently, a palm and thumb now at the end of his arm, and takes the soap. Slowly, the preacher stands and presses close behind Cass, hooks his chin over the taller man's shoulder and follows his half-formed hand down with one of his own to "help" spread the lather. 

Cassidy gasps softly and opens his eyes, looking sideways at the preacher while Jesse looks down the length of him and then sideways and up, meeting hazel eyes with dark, dark brown. His line of sight flickers down when Jesse darts his tongue out, wetting his shower-damp lips and then he's being turned so Jesse can press his back against the wall for a thorough snog. 

" _Jaysis_ ," Cassidy gasps, slipping halfway down the wall when Jesse loses his grip on one thigh. His ass hits the temp controls painfully, but the vampire is more worried about keeping Jesse's mouth on him now that he's offered it when they're both awake and sober. 

Jesse cups his hands back under Cassidy's thighs and hauls him up, grinning into his friends mouth when Cass hooks his ankles (now that he has two, again!) behind his lower back to hang on. And Jesse's rarely had a more thorough kiss in his life. Cass is practically taking over his mouth, biting and sucking at all the right junctures, licking up behind his incisors so the roof of his mouth tingles. The vibration is back, a curious sensation on his chest but very very welcome. 

Jesse's getting hard, fast. He can feel the pressure of Cass' cock on his belly, too. 

"Look, Cass, I... I wanna do this right. I'm ready. But I'm so _fuckin tired_. I know you have ta be too, right?" Jesse leans their foreheads together and pants, squeezing Cass' cheeks playfully but his eyes are begging Cassidy to understand.

"Heart might be willing, but t' flesh, 'n all?" Cass smirks, nodding. He is exhausted, and still hurting badly... and hungry. He understands, exactly. "Sleepy mornin' sex, then, Jess?" 

Jesse snorts and nods, setting Cass back on his feet and shutting off the water. He reaches for a towel and wraps his friend first, then does the same for himself. 

When they come out into the main space of the little house, wrapped in towels because their clothes are filthy, Tulip's managed to pilfer them each a strung-togerher outfit from God-knows-where. Jesse grimaces at the faded jeans and white tee shirt but pulls the boxers on to sleep in and Cass does the same, more than fine with the joggers and long sleeved tee she found him. She's in a thin night-rail sort of dress, like a long tee shirt, but it's better than her bloody ensemble in the kitchen sink by a fair sight. 

"How you doin' Cass?" Tulip asks, coming over to help balance him. He waggles a finger and thumb and some eyebrows at her and grins. 

"Gettin' there, luv. Jus' shove me on t'bed, there. Pretty bushed." Tulip raises an elegant eyebrow and looks down at the half-hard tent in his underwear. 

"Are ya, now?" She teases. "Seems like you n' Jesse got something started in the shower. He touch your good parts?" 

Cassidy chuckles and nods while Jesse flushes bright and chokes on his indignance. "Tulip!" Jesse hisses. 

"What?" She smiles, unaffected, and shrugs. "You said you wanted to wash him, not either of our fault you got all excited. Don't think I can't see the same situation over there, darlin." 

"Oh, darlin if he's tired now and 'e was coming on ta me like 'e was, Jesse's gonna be a hellcat in th'mornin, like. I already feel sorry for me poor arsehole." The two of them laugh as Jesse harrumphs and starts to stomp off, only to be given pause by the scene unfolding at the edge of the bed. 

Tulip is indeed shoving Cassidy onto the narrow double bed, but she climbs in, too and holds him from behind, his head cradled gently in the groove of her shoulder. The vampire settles immediately, always putty under her touch, which only becomes softer and more malleable when she starts petting carefully through his wet hair. 

"I love you, Cass. I'm glad we got ya back," she says against his temple, and Jesse's throat sticks together while he watches Cass light up and turn slightly, pressing their mouths together in what the preacher can only describe as a _comfortable_ kiss. It's open, not exactly chaste, but not heated. Like they've been kissing for ages, instead of just a handful of times. 

"I'm glad ter be back, luv. Christ, the t'ings Jesse gets me into," Cass teases, holding out his other, slower-healing hand for Jesse to join them. He jolts to action as if this was what he'd been waiting for, instead of just being taken in by the scene. 

Jesse comes to the bed and negotiates himself so that his chest is pressed along Cassidy's, his head on the latter man's pec, while Tulip slips down the bed to press along his back. They twine their limbs all tangled around Cass nice and tight in the narrow bed and settle. 

"S'nice," Cass comments through a huge yawn, arms cinching around Jesse further. He wiggles, burrowing deeper into the mattress, and falls asleep in seconds.

"Glad you got your shit figured out," Tulip comments over Cass' snores. She's tracing up Jesse's arm lightly, feeling him out in the dark of the room. Jesse hums back at her, too tired both physically and mentally to suss out more than his extreme comfort and sleepiness.

He follows Cassidy into a coma-like sleep; after all, they need to recoup for the morning.  


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fuckening

Jesse woke up before either of his bedmates. He blinked slow in the diffuse morning light and stretched incrementally under the deadweight of his friend. Cassidy had rolled to his belly and shuffled down the bed in the night and wrapped one arm across Jesse, trapping him in close to his side. Tulip was curled around the vampire's other arm and side, huffing soft breaths across his shoulder blades. The curve of her hip rose and sloped downward between Cass' legs, indicating that she'd draped one of her slim calves between his splayed thighs.

The good preacher smirked and yawned silently, slipping carefully away for a piss and to search in dire hope for some complementary coffee sachets. He blessedly found some in the kitchen drawers and set the brewer on for a full pot, padding back to the living room and rubbing his hands over his arms. It was chilly and he was nearly nude. The only heat there seemed to be in the drafty, ancient cottage was a stone fireplace in the main room and a small space heater, which he carried back to the bedroom, plugged in, and turned on high.

Jesse stood at the end of the bed for a moment and stared at his partners, curled up like freezing chihuahuas under the blankets. He snorted affectionately and crawled back under Cass' arm and settled beneath his friend, who stirred with a curious hum and flopped over a bit more to stretch out half on top of him. Jesse chuckled and went fully to his back, letting Cass get comfy and burrow his face in close to Jesse's throat at the curve of shoulder. 

It wasn't until the vibrating in his friend's chest started that Jesse frowned and then stiffened, remembering that Cassidy had said he'd need to feed when they woke up. 

Should he go fetch something?

Like...like _what_? 

 _Nah_ , Jesse thought. _I've got blood...loads of it_. _If he needs it he can feed offa me. Maybe Tulip, if she's inclined_. 

Feeling both horny and bold in the complete silence of the early dawn, Jesse let his free hand mindlessly tour over Cass' body. He could reach quite a bit, with how the vampire was draped across him. Despite their shared shower-- with Jesse literally washing him-- the night before, he still marvelled at how soft and perfectly smooth the other man's skin was. How lean and firm his muscles were, and, even more so, how that _wasn't_ a turn-off.  

Cassidy stirred when Jesse trailed his fingers over those sparse tickle spots he'd found last night, and Jesse chuckled softly before moving on. He wasnt quite ready for them to wake up yet and start talking. He needed this quiet time, just a few minutes at least, to enjoy the silence and the warm bodies beside him. 

Tulip breathed deep and snuffled awake moments later when the coffee maker beeped, her hand tightening with a stretch and then smoothing down Cass' spine to meet Jesse's on his flank. She blinked her eyes open and met his gaze, smiling sleepily and curling in tighter around their body heat. 

Apparently mornings were cold around these parts. A _vast_ change from the American deep south.

Cass was generally room-temperature at best, especially on an empty stomach, but Jesse's typical furnace-like body heat kept the space under the covers a tolerable level of warm for all three of them, and the space heater was warming up the room slowly, but surely.

"Mornin'," Tulip sighed, stretching out her legs and resettling across Cassidy's back. He sucked in a breath and woke sharply, head popping up and bright eyes flickering over Jesse and then over his shoulder at Tulip, before following suit and stretching carefully in the small space between them. 

"Mornin', sunshines," he yawned, sniffing at the coffee in the air. His stomach growled audibly. "Oh, shove off," Cass muttered, burrowing back into Jesse's shoulder. 

"How are ya? Hungry?" Jesse asked. More of a statement, really, but he was assessing Cassidy's desperation more than anything else. He watched the vampire take inventory his previously- missing body parts by wiggling them and feeling that they were all fully back and intact. 

"Aye, padre, but I'll last a bit. No trouble," Cassidy reached down and took Tulip's fingers in his, pulling her hand up to settle on his chest and thereby pulling her in closer behind him. He hummed contentedly and she giggled, pressing a kiss to the knot of bone at the base of his neck and then scraping her teeth over it. "Oi. Ain' even had coffee yet, luv. Jaysis," they chuckled back at him when a full-body shudder rocked the bed.

Jesse made the first move half a second later. 

He rolled them all, settling on Cass' waist as he pushed the vampire to his back. Tulip lay on her side beside them, watching avidly. Cass' hands had come up to brace against Jesse's chest almost defensively, but he relaxed fully when Jesse gripped his wrists and pinned them on either side of his head. 

"You been talkin' a lotta game, vampire," Jesse crooned, rolling his hips down and catching their cocks together. Cassidy choked a little and his eyes flew wide, mouthing and then grinning like a devil up at Jesse. 

"Aye, padre. An' it worked, see? We got yeh ta come 'round easy enough," Cass squirmed lightly against Jesse's grip, wanting to touch, now that he had rather undeniable permission. Jesse's hard on was a steel baton aligned with his own, digging into each other's hips. He licked his lips and bit the bottom one on a low whine. 

"I suppose so. Been patient, sure. But now I wanna see if you're as good a lay as you swore you were at that bar a few months back. When we made that first bet." Jesse bends and scrapes his teeth down the side of Cassidy's neck, trailing down to suck at and sharply nip one pale pink nipple. Cass' hips jump and he wrenches his hands free, gripping Jesse's nape and hip. He crushes Jesse to him easily, their faces nearly touching, sharing breath.

"What exac'ly are yeh alrigh' wi'me doin, Jess? Cos I'm fine wi'anythin, but if yer deadly serious I'll fuck the 'ell outta yeh. Make yeh come so 'ard you'll see stars, boyo." Jesse flicks his eyes up at Cassidy dangerously, like hes daring the other man to do _exactly that_ , and just as Cass grips Jesse with almost too much force, before he can flip them violently and set about his mission, Tulip clears her throat expectantly. 

Both men jolt and peer over at her in shock, having almost forgotten her presence. Jesse sits up a little and Cass' hands slip to hold his hips gently, the heat of dominance squashed with the barest sound from the girl holding the reigns to both of them. 

"Jaysis luv, got a bit carried away, there.... Wan' us ter take care o'yeh first?" Cassidy starts to reach over toward her but she puts a slim leg out, stopping his momentum with her little brown toes.

"No, I want you to do exactly what you said you'd do, and then I'll take sloppy seconds when you're both capable of focusing on _me_ and not your _boners_." Tulip laughs cruelly when they gape at her and then shrug, admitting defeat. Both men are more than a little over-ready for this to happen, and it's plainly obvious. She slides the blankets down the rest of the way and pulls her night rail off, already touching herself before they're even fully naked. 

Cassidy makes a sound like he got punched in the gut and looks over her body hungrily, fingertips digging into Jesse's hips as their erections pulse in-time. 

"Not his first rodeo either, Cassidy," she sighs, quirking a devilish smirk at Jesse, who turns red and starts furiously tugging at their underwear for a distraction. 

"Wait, wait, wait! _What_?!" Cassidy grips Jesse's hands and jerks him forward, demanding an explanation. "Yeh've ridden a cock before, eh?" Jesse snarls at his friend's broad grin and then at Tulip. 

"That was _once_ , and hardly the same!" 

"Uh, it was _way_ more than once. And _you_ _liked it,_ " Tulip shrugs, still swirling her fingertips over her pussy. "Especially when you're drunk." Both men pause to breathe at her a little heavily, watching raptly at her hand, the rise and fall of her chest, before Cass shakes his head back to attention and back to Jesse. 

"Explain. I need ta know what I'm in fer, padre!" 

"Tulip...uh..." he flushed again and trailed off, side-eyeing the woman in question. Cassidy flicked his head back and forth between the two, expectantly. 

"Good lord. I would occasionally wear a strap-on and peg him, Cass. He likes it, sometimes." Tulip rolled her eyes and flapped a hand at them, exasperated. "Now come on, already! And hey, he likes it kinda rough," she added with a smirk. 

Cass' eyes dropped open wide and Jesse felt his fingers tighten over his hips. A slow smile stretched across the vampire's face and he lit up.

"Is tha' right, Jess?" 

Jesse grimaced with his trademark stubbornness for all of four seconds and then his face dropped into an easy, shy smile. 

"Yeah, Cassidy. I guess it is." 

Abruptly, Cass sat up and wrapped an arm behind Jesse, pinning their chests together. "Kiss me," he said, one hand trailing up Jesse's thigh, both proprietary and explorative. The skin shifted under his fingertips as Jesse lunged forward, all teeth and explosive force. Cassidy pressed back and returned the energy, tempering it with each swipe of the tongue and sharp nip at the edges of his mouth until Jesse was moving slower and breathing harder. 

Soon the preacher was gentling, still hard and eager and rutting against Cassidy's belly, but not so desperate that he was bruising his friend-- not that Cass minded it one bit, either way. He was unbelievably pleased with this turn of events; he couldn't keep his hands off Jesse's tight body. He reached down and gripped Jesse by the arse and lifted him an inch or so until the preacher was sitting on his cock, the seam of his ass acting as the perfect channel for now. 

"Jesse," Cassidy breathed, biting at his friend's mouth. He cupped Jesse's chin and turned the man's head to face Tulip, still swirling fingers over her clit, dipping inside occasionally. The scent was heady, intoxicating. "Watch," Cassidy whispered, laying Jesse down on his back and settling between the preacher's legs on his belly. 

Tulip watched, rapt, as Cass lifted one long golden leg and placed it on his shoulder and moved I to the afforded space. He licked a form, wet stripe from arsehole to cockhead and back, wrenching a gasp out of Jesse. 

The Texans head popped up instantly, mouth open in hungry want and disbelief. "Oh, _god_ ," Jesse groaned, his head dropping back, eyes flicking back over to watch Tulip. Cassidy was licking firmly at his hole now, worming a finger in with plenty of spit. 

"Aw, fuckin...damnit mate we don'ave any lube!" Cassidy cried, looking desperately over at Tulip, who shrugged. He looked back at Jesse. "I'm not fuckin' yeh fer th'firs time wi'out lube, luv. It'll hurt." 

Jesse stilled for a moment, frowning, and then grinned. "Conditioner in the bathroom..." 

Cassidy blinked and cracked a huge grin, extricating himself from Jesse and the bed to go on a mission. He pecked Tulip on the mouth and raced toward the loo, finding the little dish of toiletries there. They were in French but _Conditioner_ was plain enough to see either way. He grabbed a dampened wash cloth, too, and he scrambled back to the bedroom.

Jesse grinned at the gasp that punched out of Cassidy when he crawled back onto the bed and the preacher spread wide for him, ready and eager. 

Cass dumped some of the conditioner onto his long fingers and rubbed them firmly over Jesse's entrance, rolling his middle finger into the tight ring. The preacher gasped and shifted his hips, squirming at the sensation. He looked up from Cassidy and over to Tulip, now biting her lips, close to coming on her fingers already. 

"Cass, use your mouth, baby," she panted, hand moving faster as the vampire complied with a snort. Jesse watched her, groaning as Cassidy sank his mouth down over his length carefully. He made a point to avoid too much stimulation, just enough to keep Jesse hard and leaking a bit while he was stretched carefully to accommodate the irishman's cock. Jesse bucked his hips, driving down onto that one--oh, no, now _two_ \-- long, tapered fingers. He curled his own digits into Cass' hair and held him there for a beat, trying to soak in every sensation at once. He reached out and brushed Tulip's outer thigh, the only bit of her he could reach, with his fingertips.

Tulip stilled and shuddered, coming in tight little bursts over her hand. She sat there and watched for another moment, catching her breath, but when Cassidy seemed ready to move, she moved with him. He removed his hand from Jesse and leaned up to drag down a pillow, while she laid alongside Jesse, ready to run her hands all over while he fucked their friend. 

"Gonna boost yeh up a bit, luv, unless yeh'd rather be on yer belly?" Cassidy murmured, waiting for Jesse to decide and then carefully roll so that he was draped lengthwise along Tulip with his head cradled in her tits and his ass turned up, ready for Cassidy. The vampire hissed at the sight, gripping his throbbing cock and smearing more conditioner over it. He battered the tip nervously over Jesse's entrance, rubbing in more slick and testing the tenuous stretch of his friend's hole.

"Christ, alright, Jess. Deep breath, an' _relax_ ," Cassidy groaned, pressing in slow but inexorably until he was more than halfway. Jesse's shoulders tensed considerably, but Tulip was there, running her nails gently over the knots of muscle until he relaxed and his hips flexed with a moan. 

"Keep going, sugar. He can take it." Tulip hooked her chin over Jesse's shoulder and watched, teeth buried in her bottom lip, as Cassidy nudged carefully in and out until he was fully seated inside the preacher. 

" _Fuck_ ," they groaned in unison, each writhing just a fraction to settle their muscles around one another, before Cassidy pulled back slightly. He pressed down firmly on Jesse's lower back and pushed back in. The effect was instantaneous; Jesse shouted sharply when his friend's cock caught his prostate. 

Tulip grinned and reached down, fingers crossing over Cass' as she palmed Jesse's ass and spread him for the vampire. Jesse whimpered into her throat and reared back, balancing his weight on his elbows and driving back into Cassidy's increasingly hard thrusts. 

"Fuckin...come on Cass. I know you can do better than that," Jesse huffed, relishing in the way Cass' thighs were slapping against his own, the heady drag of friction on the stretched rim of his hole while his own cock rubbed all along Tulip's soft skin underneath him. He tossed his head and rutted into her belly, seeking release. Cass chuckled and gripped his hips tighter, changing the angle just slightly so he could snap his thrusts more rapidly and still deliver the hard punch to Jesse's overheated insides that the preacher craved. 

Jesse positively howled when Tulip let go of his ass and moved her hands around front, cupping and tugging at his turgid cock. He dropped his dark head to her, kissing messily up the side of her neck until their mouths met in a wet slide and Jesse shuddered to a stop, spilling a globby blurt of come over her fingers. 

"Jaysis, fuck, _fuck_!" Cassidy cried, burying himself as deep as possible and then pulling out carefully but abruptly.

Jesse grimaced with a slightly offended sound as he felt little splatters of come track up his ass and lower back, but the sound Cass made when he was done, rubbing his fingers through them, was suddenly worth it. 

Tulip chuckled and tangled her clean fingers in his hair, adding her messy hand to Cassidy's over his back.  "Now you know how that feels," she teased, a wide grin splitting her face. Cass marvelled in the glow of it, panting a bit where he wobbled above them, fingers still gripping hers. 

"Y'alrigh', Jess?" He asked, lowering to the mattress so Jesse was sandwiched tightly between them. It was getting stuffy in the room now with the heater on, but they couldn't be arsed to get up and switch it off quite yet. 

Jesse hummed in agreement and they lay in silence for as long as Cassidy could manage. Which is to say, about a minute. He sprung up and went for a washcloth, helping Jesse scrub their come off his back and belly before it dried into a second skin. 

"Wanna coffee, luv?" He asked no one in particular. 

"Yeah,"

"Sure," they both replied.

Grinning, Cassidy tossed the cold, come-y rag onto Jesse with a wet splat and bolted to the kitchen and made them each a mug, happier than he could recall being in quite a long time. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys I hope you liked this fun lil ride. There was nowhere near the smut I intended, tbh I wanted Cass to be a huge slag and make Jesse super jealous, but the boys' muse didnt cooperate so... maybe another time ;) cos you KNOW I'll be writing more.  
> As always, comments give me LYFE so please let me know what you think and drop a hint of what you may want to see in the future.  
> Thanks for reading,  
> Maris

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy!


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